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In 2025, fire departments serving Pagosa Springs responded to 190 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,035 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $3.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 181 | — | |
| 2022 | 199 | +9.9% | |
| 2023 | 265 | +33.2% | |
| 2024 | 200 | -24.5% | |
| 2025 | 190 | -5.0% |
For the 8 building fires Pagosa Springs departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 131 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 28 | 21.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 18 | 13.7% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 7 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Other | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 44 | 33.6% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Pagosa Springs mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 60 | 45.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 6.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 6 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 6 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 6 | 4.6% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Arcing | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 7.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pagosa Springs departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $19,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pagosa Springs sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
9 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 3 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 302,266 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 73,121 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 58,570 | 14.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54,129 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 49,628 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 24,931 | 14.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 15,356 | 18.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9,294 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 2,160 | 13.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 1,869 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 1,434 | 19.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 1,417 | 15.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 1,400 | 31.7 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 81147 | 1,035 |
Six Colorado cities with population within ±25% of Pagosa Springs. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Pagosa Springs.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.